Chinese and Russian objections to a resolution imposing arms and financial sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear test delayed a vote by the UN Security Council for hours today.
One council member said he hoped for a vote at about 7pm.
China objected to a section of the resolution that allowed interdiction of North Korean cargo and Russia gave a hint of its objections by saying the document should lift sanctions if North Korea rejoined six-party talks it abandoned a year ago.
In Washington, a preliminary US intelligence analysis showed radioactivity in air samples collected near the suspected North Korean nuclear test site, a US official said, five days after Pyongyang announced it conducted the test.
"That's right, though this is only a first look. People have been saying all along that the working assumption is it was a nuke," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, said Beijing still wanted changes on a provision that authorizes nations to stop cargo coming in and out of North Korea in search of dangerous weapons.
Wang told reporters that "this interception idea, once they put it in operation it could easily lead by one side or the other to a provocation of conflict which would have serious implications for the region, for the countries."
US President George W. Bush used his weekly radio address to the nation to urge world powers to pass tough sanctions on North Korea and said Pyongyang must face "real consequences" for the nuclear weapons test.
"With its actions this week, the North Korean regime has once again broken its word, provoked an international crisis, and denied its people the opportunity for a better life," he said.
Seeking to meet objections from China and Russia, the latest version of the US-drafted resolution makes clear the measures do not include military force under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
The draft UN resolution would prohibit the transfer or development of weapons of mass destruction and ban sales of luxury goods to North Korea. It would freeze funds overseas of people or businesses connected with Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
It also imposes an arms embargo on heavy conventional weapons and allows a travel ban on individuals connected with North Korea's dangerous weapons programs, and their families, if a council sanctions committee approves the names.
Moscow's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying sanctions should be lifted if North Korea returns to six-party talks on its nuclear program.
Pyongyang walked out of the talks among North and South Korea, the United States, Russia, China and Japan over a year ago to protest Washington's crackdown on its illicit financial activities. Ivanov spoke after meeting China's special envoy Tang Jiaxuan in Moscow.